"The hamlet stood on a gentle rise in the flat, wheat-growing north-east corner of Oxfordshire. We will call it Lark Rise.” And henceforth we were introduced to Flora Thompson's immortal trilogy, containing "Lark Rise", "Over To Candleford" and "Candleford Green". Originally written as three separate novels, together they deliver a heart-warming portrayal of everyday country life in the 1880s and 1890s as told by Laura. This story of three closely related Oxfordshire communities - a hamlet, the nearby village and a small market town - is based on the author's experiences during childhood; a simplicity of life seemingly lost forever. In its beautifully nostalgic way, the story chronicles social attitudes, May Day celebrations, forgotten children's games, the daily lives of farmworkers and craftsmen, tales of friendship and family life - all constructed to make this trilogy an affectionate and evocative memorial to Victorian rural England.
Flora Thompson's immortal trilogy, containing Lark Rise, Over To Candleford and Candleford Green, is a heartwarming portrayal of country life at the close of the 19th century. This story of three closely related Oxfordshire communities - a hamlet, the nearby village and a small market town - is based on the author's experiences during childhood and youth. It chronicles May Day celebrations and forgotten children's games, the daily lives of farmworkers and craftsmen, friends and relations - all painted with a gaiety and freshness of observation that make this trilogy an evocative and sensitive memorial to Victorian rural England. With a new introduction by Richard Mabey
Born in Juniper Hill, Oxfordshire, Flora Thompson left school at 14 to work in the local post office. She married young, and wrote mass-market fiction to help support her increasing family. In her 60s she published the semi-autobiographical trilogy combined as LARK RISE TO CANDLEFORD (1945). RICHARD MABEY is the author of some thirty books, including Whistling in the Dark: In Pursuit of the Nightingale, Beechcombings: the narratives of Trees, the ground-breaking and best-selling cultural flora Flora Britannica, and Gilbert White, which won the Whitbread Biography Award. His recent memoir Nature Cure was short-listed for three major literary awards. He writes for the Independent, the Guardian, Resurgence and Granta, and contributes frequently to BBC radio. He lives in Norfolk, in the Waveney Valley.
